We love lots of things! We love our family. We love our friends. We can love our coworkers, teammates, and fellow Christians. We love dogs and cats. We love tacos and pizza. We can love reading, hiking, baking, painting, playing an instrument, or doing some other fun hobby. We love sunrises and sunsets. We can love mountains or forests or beaches. We love laughing and having fun. We have a lot of loves, but these loves can change as we go through life. If you develop a dairy intolerance, you definitely won’t love cheese pizza as much! If you get attacked by a dog, it’s hard to love and trust other dogs. If a friend turns their back on you or a partner cheats on you, it’s hard to still show love to them.
But there is one love that never changes no matter the circumstance. It endures forever! This never-changing love is the love of our God.
The Hebrew word for God’s love in the Bible is hesed. The Daily Grace Co. explains the meaning of this word beautifully,
“…there really isn’t one English word that conveys all that this little Hebrew word encompasses. It is translated
mercy, steadfast love, favor, goodness, loyalty, and lovingkindness. This is covenant love. It is the kind of love that endures no matter what, even when things get bad. There is no sin or unfaithfulness that could change this steadfast love of God for His people. It is permanent, enduring, and constant.” (1)
God’s steadfast, faithful love never changes. It never goes away, for He abounds in it (Psalm 86:15)! Nothing we do could ever stop Him from loving us, His children. The Apostle John writes,
“Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8, ESV
Not only does God possess steadfast love, but He is love! And we are able to love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Out of His love for us, God sent His Son to this earth to die for our sins (1 John 4:9-10, John 3:16, Romans 5:8). God’s great love allows us to have new life in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5). The love of God is evidently an important theme in the New Testament, but the theme of God’s love for His people is just as important in the Old Testament as well. The prophet Zephaniah records in his book:
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Can’t you just feel God’s love for you in this verse! He is with us. He saves us. He rejoices over us with gladness. He exults over us with singing. And He quiets us by His love, His steadfast, faithful, never-ending, covenant love.
Because God loves us, we must also love. During His ministry, Jesus declared that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others (Matthew 22:36-40). But what exactly does this look like?
Jen Wilkin teaches that
“The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.” (2)
Therefore, if we want to love God, we need to know Him. And what better way is there to know God than by reading His Word? God reveals Himself to us through the words of Scripture. The Bible teaches us who He is and what He desires of us. When we study and understand our Bibles, we are able to truly know, love, and obey God.
While loving a perfect, faithful God may seem pretty easy and simple, loving imperfect human beings is not always so easy. But God never promised the Christian life to be easy! The Bible tells us again and again to love one another (Romans 12:10, John 13:34, 1 John 4:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, 1 Peter 1:22). We are to serve others and put them before ourselves, even if they are our enemies (Galatians 5:13, John 15:13, Luke 6:35). We are to be patient, kind, and humble towards everyone (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).
Remember today that God loves you! Even if you’ve made a mistake or done something wrong, He will never stop loving you. So, show your love of Him through obedience and praise. Show love to everyone around you today, even if they are not the most lovable. And glorify our steadfast, faithful, good, kind, and loving God.
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” 1 Chronicles 16:34
1. Quoted from The Daily Grace Co.’s Hesed Card.
2. Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both our Hearts and our Minds (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014).
